


Me? A Prince? How About No?

by yerawizardjane



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU, Everyone's alive, F/M, M/M, Multi, Princess Diaries - Freeform, Princess Diaries AU, Royalty, Scisaac - Freeform, Scott is Derek's brother, Sterel, Stiles is a prince, Teen Wolf AU, yay fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-02-17 16:52:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2316695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yerawizardjane/pseuds/yerawizardjane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles Stilinski's life is turned upside down when his Grandmother reveals that he is the heir to the small country of Genovia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. How About No

“Stiles, come on, get up!” Sheriff Stilinski banged on the door for the fourth time that morning, “Up and at ‘em, it’s a brand new semester!”

Stiles groaned, rolling over to look at his clock. It was already quarter to eight. Bolting out of bed, he ran across the room to his wardrobe and pulled out his shirts and pants. 

“Dad, I’m gonna be late!” He screeched to a halt in front of the mirror, shoving his glasses on and trying to smooth down his shoulder length hair. Giving it up for a lost cause, he hurried downstairs, practically downing his waiting cereal in one and snatching up his car keys.

“Remember you’ve got a meeting with your Grandmother tonight,” His Dad was standing in the doorway, “And you’re not late, I set your clock an hour ahead. It’s the only way I can get you out of bed on the first day of a semester.”

Stiles felt his jaw drop, “Are you freaking kidding me? It’s only 7am?”

His Dad nodded, “I wanted to talk to you about the meeting with your Grandmother.”

“Dad, I nearly died swallowing that cereal-”

“Now, I know you’ve never met your Mom’s mother, but that doesn’t mean the two of you won’t get along. She’s a very old-fashioned lady and very rich, so don’t be intimidated by the house.”

Stiles collapsed onto one of the kitchen chairs, “I still don’t why she wants to see me. It’s not like she’s ever tried before.”

“Stiles…”

“I’ll go, Dad, but only to be polite, okay? I don’t really care what she has to say to me.”

“She was your mom’s mother, Stiles. Just remember that, okay? Maybe she wants to right past wrongs.”

“Maybe.” Stiles stood up, “I’m gonna go and change, Dad, okay? I don’t think my lack of blazer and tie will go down well with the teachers.”

“Right. I should get going too.” The Sheriff smiled and patted his son on the arm, “Say hi to Melissa for me.”

“Yeah, alright Dad. Keep it in your pants.” 

_____

Stiles pulled up outside Scott’s huge house and turned the ignition off, squinting up at the top windows as he went for a sign of Scott’s hot older brother. Stiles had had a crush on Derek McCall before he even knew what a crush was, and he knew that quarter to eight was the time Derek usually got dressed. There was no sign of him this morning though, and Stiles let himself into the house with a sigh, only to nearly run into a topless Derek.

“Whoa, Stilinki, wanna look where you’re going next time?”

“Oh God, sorry D-Derek I-” Stiles felt his face turn bright red.

“Hey, I’m joking.” Derek smiled, “What’s up with you? You’re looking pretty stressed.”

“I’ve got to go see my Grandmother after school today.”

“Bummer?” Derek raised his eyebrows.

“Kind of. She’s just some snobby lady who completely ignored me and Dad after my Mom died and now she wants to ‘bond’ with me. It kind of sucks.”

“How do you know she’s a snobby lady if you’ve never met her before?”

Stiles opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Scott appearing in the hallway.

“Jesus, Derek, put a freaking shirt on. You’re gonna start scaring away house guests.” He grinned at Stiles as Derek left, “Hey bud, you ready to go save some whales?”  
“Can’t today, bro. I’ve got to go see my Grandmother after school.”

“Your Grandmother?” Scott narrowed his eyes, “The one you’ve literally never seen before?”

“She’s in town and wants to bond with her only Grandchild, apparently.” Stiles shrugged, “I guess I’ll have to save the whales with you tomorrow, sorry.”  
“It’s okay,” Scott smirked, “Isaac’s going to help me man the stall anyway.”

“Oh yeah? I bet he’ll do much more than that.”

“Shut up!” Scott’s cheeks turned crimson as he shoved Stiles towards the door, “Let’s get in your piece of crap car and get to school, huh?”

“Oooh Isaac. Scott LOVES Isaac. Isaac is Scott’s special whale saving friend!” Stiles cooed, earning a punch in the arm.

_____

“So, where does your Grandma live?” Scott asked, his mouth full of veggie burger.

“Somewhere near Bel Air, apparently.”

Scott whistled under his breath, “Jesus. And she’s letting you drive that jeep and have your hair that length?”

“I don’t remember you passing your fashion police exam, Scotty. We don’t all have butlers that shop at freaking Abercrombie & Fitch, do we?”

“That’s not what I meant. Jeez, you’re tense today.”

“Yeah well. I don’t really fancy having some old broad judge every single life choice me and my Dad have made for the last ten years, to be honest.”

“It might not be that bad,” Isaac chipped in, “She might be here to give you a huge sum of money for your eighteenth.”

“Dude, my birthday’s not for another two months.” Stiles slumped over his burger, “It’s just going to bring up old memories, you know?”

“It’ll be fine.” Scott smiled, “Although maybe consider giving your car a clean before you drive through Bel Air.”

“Dude, when you pass your driving test you can criticise my Jeep all you want. But until you do, leave my baby alone!”

_____

Stiles let out a low whistle as he drove down the street, resisting the urge to sing the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song. The houses – no, mansions – that adorned the roads were huge, and…rich-looking. As Stiles drove past, he saw at least ten fountains, four cars worth tens of thousands of dollars, and several butlers and maids. For the billionth time, he wondered what his Grandmother actually did for a living, and how she afforded to have a mansion as a second house.

Finally, he pulled up to the gates outside the house and, after telling the intercom who he was, pulled up in front of the mansion. It was gorgeous, enough to make any architect jizz their pants. Stiles walked up to the front door, feeling ridiculously underdressed and very poor. After ringing the doorbell, he was greeted by a butler and shown into the living to await the ‘lady of the house’. Stiles dumped his backpack on the floor and looked around, taking in the paintings, the sculptures and the bouquets of flowers that adorned all the fussy little side tables and antique furniture. Stiles picked up a vase that was decorated with pears. He was trying to see if there was actually inside it when the handle broke off, sending the vase spiralling to the floor. The other handle broke off as it hit the ground and Stiles swore under his breath. He heard voices getting closer from the other room and quickly put the vase back into its original place, shoving the handles in his bag. 

“Krasny!” An elegant older woman appeared, resplendent in a pink suit with an updo to match. Her hands were covered in rings and around her neck was a silver necklace, dripping with diamonds. She actually looked pleased to see him, which was a surprise.

Stiles tried not to cringe, “People don’t really call me Krasny, Grandma. They find it hard to pronounce.”

“Nonsense!” His Grandmother smiled and swept him into a perfumey hug, “It’s an old family name. Now, let me look at you.”

Stiles stood where he was, slightly shocked by being hugged by a woman who hadn’t seen him since he was seven.

“Well, the hair needs work, obviously. And the wardrobe also. He has the Gorski jawline though, and his mother’s eyes.” She smiled fondly at him, “Now, tea in the gardens, yes?  
Good, come along then.”

Stiles followed her to the garden, which includes two outbuildings, four pear trees and a waterfall. He was ushered to a table on the terrace, which overlooked the rose garden, and a cup of tea – actual tea – was placed in front of him.

“So, Krasny, I’m afraid our little afternoon tea isn’t merely me wanting to catch up with my only grandchild. I have to talk a little business with you, I’m afraid.”  
Stiles hastily swallowed his mouthful of tea, “What business?”

“Well, since your mother died, I’m afraid we’ve got a bit of a situation on our hands. Now, because she died while still married to your father, it means that you are her only heir. I’m sure your father has told you this.”

Stiles felt the tea coming back up his throat, “Heir to what? Is it like, a family business or something?”

His Grandmother put her cup down, “Your father hasn’t discussed this with you?”

“Discussed what?!”

“You’re a prince, Krasny. The heir to the throne of Genovia. It is your birth right, as your mother’s only child.”

“Me? A Prince?” Stiles stood up, “How about NO?”

“Excuse me?” 

“I-I can’t be a prince! I can’t even grow facial hair! I’m-” Stiles took a deep breath, “I’m sorry, but you’ve got the wrong guy. I refuse to be a Prince and I’m not moving and I-I don’t want to be a Prince!”

And with that, he took off.


	2. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, Stiles is a prince. That wasn't a huge, life-changing piece of information or anything.

“Dad, was it really necessary to lie to me for SEVENTEEN YEARS about the fact that I am the rightful heir to an entire GODDAMN COUNTRY?” Stiles was pacing up and down the living room.

“I thought I was doing the right thing.” His Dad answered calmly, watching his son from his usual armchair.

“Oh yeah? Well, to be honest, I would’ve rather found out sooner. What am I even going to do about this? I can’t run a country! I couldn’t even keep the Harry Potter fan club at school going for longer than three weeks! And what about college? I’m assuming this is an ‘eighteenth birthday’ thing, right? What if I wanted to go to college? What if I wanted to   
have a life?”

“Your Grandmother is still the Queen of Genovia, and she will be until you, or someone else, is ready to take her place as ruler.”

“Someone else? There’s someone else?”

“Stiles, you are the first in line for the throne, so you have priority. You have the Gorski blood in you. There are, however, dukes and duchesses who are also eligible for the throne should you choose to not take your rightful place.”

“I do choose! I choose not to! Can I just ring Grandma and tell her that and we can all go back to the way things were, when I wasn’t a Prince?”

“I don’t know if it’s quite that simple, Stiles…”

“I can’t do this, Dad!” Stiles turned around to face his father, “I can’t be a Prince!”

“Stiles, just…just calm down, okay? You’ve got school tomorrow so go to bed and sleep on this, and think about it more tomorrow, okay?”

“I’ve not even done my homework yet-!”

“Then go and do your homework, then go to sleep, then think about it more tomorrow, yes?”

“Yeah. Yeah, sure. Right.” Stiles started walking towards the stairs, “And Dad?”

“Yeah, kiddo?”

“I still love you, okay? I’m just sort of mad at you right now.”

He heard his father chuckle, “I know, son. Love you too.”

_____

Stiles logged onto IM, still in a foul mood. He was stuck on his chemistry homework and it was past midnight already. Thankfully Derek was online, and usually willing to help his little brother’s best friend with chemical formulas.

**StillStiles:** Hey, Derek, fancy helping me out?

**McDerek:** Stilinski! What’s in it for me? And how’d it go with the Grandmother?

**StillStiles:** I’ll continue driving your ridiculous brother to school so you don’t have to.

**StillStiles:** And I really don’t want to talk about it. 

**McDerek:** Touché. That bad huh?

**StillStiles:** You have no idea. Can you help me with my chemistry homework? I swear Harris is out to get me. 

**McDerek:** The guy’s a douche, don’t worry about it. Send it over then.

**StillStiles:** Thanks, dude. I’d say I owe you, but Scott is on another mission to save the world so I’m feeling like you owe me a bit more.

**McDerek:** You don’t have to live with him. We’re even.

Stiles laughed, and proceeded to send Derek the homework, trying to pay attention as Derek solved the formulas in less than five minutes. There were definitely perks to having your best friend’s older brother be the class valedictorian of a school full of geniuses. Despite knowing full well that Derek was only helping him out because he was Scott’s friend, it was still a good excuse to talk to him. Derek’s knowledge of all things geeky was on par, if not better, than Stiles’, and they never seemed to run out of things to talk about, whether it was Star Wars conspiracy theories or Harry Potter ship wars. 

Stiles ended up logging off at half one after a thirty minute debate over whether Hermione should have ended up with Ron or Harry (always Ron, duh). It was only when he’d stripped down to his boxers and got into bed that he remembered the day’s events, and the fact that he was a Prince, and his Grandmother wanted to see him again tomorrow, or today.

It took a long time for Stiles to sleep after that.

_____

Stiles examined his reflection in the mirror, trying to kill time before he had to go downstairs to greet his Grandmother. He could hear her talking to his Dad downstairs, and it already sounded like a conversation he didn’t want to be a part of. Checking his watch, he realised it was already 7:40am, and he needed to go pick up Scott and stare at his older brother soon. He snuck downstairs and threw his backpack on, only to be accosted by his Dad in the hallway.

“Your Grandmother’s here to see you.”

“Dad, I’m late for-”

“You’ve got five minutes to sit and talk to her. And you need to apologise to her for running out yesterday.”

“Apologise-?!”

“Yes, Stiles.” His Dad sounded unusually stern, “She’s in the kitchen.”

“Fine.” Stiles dumped his bag on the floor and sloped into the kitchen, “Hello, Grandma.”

“Krasny, lovely to see you again. You left so suddenly yesterday, I didn’t even get a chance to know you properly.” His Grandmother swooped over and swept him into another hug, this time placing two kisses on his cheeks.

“I’m sorry, Grandma.” Stiles muttered into her shoulder, “It just freaked me out a bit. It’s not every day you’re told you’re the rightful heir to a small country.”

“Quite!” His Grandmother released him, “Now, your father and I have been talking and I’d like to propose an offer to you. I am holding the Annual Genovian Independence Day Ball at my house in one month, and I’d like you hold off making any decisions about accepting your role until that day. I’d like to give you prince lessons at my house every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday afternoon until that time, and give you more knowledge about what the job actually entails and the conditions of your acceptance to it. How does that sound?”

“That sounds…” Stiles could see his Dad’s expression behind his Grandmother. It was similar to the one he’d worn for the first few months after his Mom had passed away and Stiles suddenly knew his answer.

“Fine.” He finished, giving the elderly lady a small smile. He saw his Dad give a small sigh of relief. 

“Excellent! I’ll see you at four this afternoon then?”

“Uh…can you make it half four? I have to drop my friend Scott off after school?”

“Ah, well that brings me to my next point. If you’ll follow me outside, I’ll show you.”

Stiles raised his eyebrows at his Dad, who gave him an apologetic smile and wave. He followed his Grandmother out of the door and stopped on the porch, slightly horrified.

Two limosines.

“You have two?”

“One is yours. This is your driver, Christopher Argent, and he will drive you anywhere you need to go.” 

“Grandma, I have a car…”

“I know, but this is much more convenient. Christopher will wait for you during school, drop off your friends and then drive you to my house for your lesson. It’ll save you a fortune in petrol.” His Grandmother smiled, and Stiles knew he wouldn’t be able to say no, even if he wanted to.

“Well, thanks, I guess.” He got into the back of the limo as Christopher held the door open for him, slightly stunned by all the space. They pulled off the kerb and headed towards Scott’s house after some directions from Stiles. Not that he knew how he was going to explain this to his best friend. At all.

_____

“You have GOT to be kidding,” Scott practically yelled as he looked out of the window at the waiting limo, “Like, you’re kidding, right?”

Stiles was slumped over the kitchen island, contemplating shoving his hand into the food dispenser so he didn’t have to have this conversation, “Nope, not kidding.”

“Is this something to do with your Grandmother?” Scott narrowed his eyes, “Is she trying to make up for years of neglect?”

“She’s hardly neglected me, Scott. She is paying my school tuition, you know.”

“Yeah but-”

“Is there a funeral I don’t know about?” Derek strode into the kitchen, sadly already dressed in his school uniform. He took in Stiles slumped on the surface and Scott’s indignant expression, “Okay, who died?”

“Stiles’ Grandmother has apparently provided him with a limo to make for her years of neglect.” Scott turned to Stiles again, “Do you KNOW how many carbon emissions those things emit?”

Stiles stood up, “Well, if you don’t want a ride to school then you can get the bus because it’s either the limo or nothing.”

“No jeep?” 

“No jeep. Derek you’re welcome to a ride as well.” Stiles avoided looking at Scott’s older brother, “If you want.”

Derek shrugged, “Saves my petrol, even if it isn’t saving the environment.” He punched his younger brother lightly on the arm, “Come on, Scott. One limo isn’t going to cause a hole in the Ozone layer.”

“Another hole you mean!” Scott retorted. Derek sighed and grabbed his brother by the arm, pulling him out of the door, “We’re gonna be late for school.”

“We’ll have to do a fundraiser if we’re getting the limo every day!” Scott called to Stiles as he disappeared into the hall, “Or our carbon footprints are going to increase exponentially!”

Stiles looked at the food dispenser again, “Maybe later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your comments and kudos! I hope you enjoyed the second chapter just as much :D


	3. Makeover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter you've (probably) been waiting for. Stiles gets a princely makeover.

School passed unnervingly quickly, punctuated with various comments from Scott about how the world wasn’t going to fix itself and that some people were adding to the problem rather than taking it away. Stiles was almost relieved when he dropped him back off at his house (Derek was at computer club) and Christopher drove him to his Grandmother’s house in Bel Air. He wasn’t so happy, however, when the door opened and he found himself face to face with someone who looked a lot like a personal stylist. They eyed each other uneasily until his Grandmother arrived, swooping Stiles into another hug (definitely feeling guilty). 

“Krasny, darling! This is Paulo, and he’s going to give you a bit of a makeover. Don’t worry!” She quickly exclaimed, seeing the look on Stiles’ face, “No actual make up involved, just a lovely new haircut and some styling advice. My assistant, Allison, will be watching the whole time so you’re in safe hands. I’m afraid I have to take a phone call with the French Prime Minister so I’ll just have to come back and be amazed!” And she was gone, gliding out of the room like a freaking ballerina.

Stiles looked nervously at the stylist, who looked sympathetically back. Scott was going to have a fit tomorrow.

_____

“A haircut, Dad! A cut! That implies a slight trim, or neatening. Not an entirely different style!” Stiles was staring at his reflection, “It’s…it’s actually got gel in it!”

“Stiles…”

“And the clothes! You could literally feed an entire country for a week with how much they cost. Who the hell even needs $300 jeans? I don’t even wear jeans to school! When am I going to wear them? And a Prada suit! PRADA! People are going to judge me so much.”

“Now, don’t be ridiculous, Stiles. Why would people judge you?”

“Because I look like I totally sold out!” Stiles turned from the mirror to look at his Dad, “Only douchey sports guys actually style their hair in the morning. And it means I now have to get up twenty minutes earlier to do it.”

“I think you’re overreacting, Stiles. Do you, actually you, like your hair like that? Do you think it looks better? Do you think you look better in the new clothes? Do you think you look better without your glasses? Do you feel more confident in yourself?”

“Jeez, Dad, did Grandma hire you as my motivational speaker?”

“Answer me, Stiles.”

“Well…yeah, okay? I do look better. I actually didn’t know I could look this good. Ever. Are you happy?”

“I’m happy if you are, kiddo. And I’m just grateful that your Grandmother made you cut your hair, it looked terrible. The twenty minutes will be worth it, trust me.”

“Whatever.” Stiles started to head towards the stairs, “I still think the glasses had a certain hipster appeal though.”

“Maybe wear them when you want to look especially intellectual? Or if you want to look like you’re not trying too hard?”

“You got it.”

_____

Later that night, Stiles logged onto IM, wondering if he should give Scott a heads up about the makeover. He was disappointed to see that neither of the McCalls were online, but that he had a notification from Scott to join a page entitled ‘100 Greener Transport Options’. Rolling his eyes, he neglected to like the page, and instead spent the rest of the night trying to figure out exactly to gel his hair so it looked like it had just after it had been styled, and wondering what Derek would have to say about his new look. 

_____

Owing to his hair literally taking twenty minutes to style (he thought that was an exaggeration), Stiles had to forgo the contact lenses that morning and opt for the hipster look. He earned himself an eyebrow raise from Christopher as he threw himself into the back of the limo, dragging his new leather satchel behind him.

“Decided to do something different, Sir?” Stiles could practically hear the smirk in his driver’s voice.

“Gotta shake things up every once in a while, right?”

“Right you are, Sir. Are we picking up Derek and Scott before school again?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Prepare yourself for some severe backlash.”

“I think you look good, Sir, if you don’t mind me saying. I’m sure Mr McCall will think so as well.”

“Scott will most definitely-”

“I’m not talking about Mr Scott McCall, I’m talking about his older brother. I sense a soft spot there.”

Stiles felt himself blush all the way up to his slightly shaped eyebrows, “Derek? I really don’t know what-”

“It appears we’ve arrived, Sir. And you have a welcome party.”

Stiles closed his eyes, “If you could crash the limo into that truck over there, I’d make sure my Grandma doubled your salary.”

“I suspect I’m more likely to get fired, Sir. I’ll get the door.”

Stiles took a deep breath, trying to remind himself that Scott had been his best friend since they were five and there was a limit to how harsh he could actually be. Christopher opened the door and he stepped out to see Scott and Derek waiting on the kerb, both their mouths open.

“What in the hell happened to you?” Scott’s look of outrage seemed to be nearly a constant fixture these days, “Are you…have you got gel in your hair?”

“My Grandmother surprised me.” Stiles mumbled, avoiding Derek’s stare, “I-”

“She surprised you by giving you a makeover? I mean…have you had your eyebrows plucked?”

“Shaped.” Stiles mumbled, suddenly wishing the ground would swallow him up.

“And you have a…is that a real leather satchel? You know a cow died just so you could have that overpriced douchey bag, right? And, what, you’ve just completely sold out now? You realise that advertisers put these images out there to make people like you and me feel bad-”

“Shut up, Scott.” Derek suddenly said. Stiles looked up to see him giving a stern look to his younger brother, “You gave him shit about the limo, so I think that’s your quota done for this week.”

“But, Derek! Don’t you think he looked fine before? He didn’t need-”

“Scott, I feel better now, okay? I know it’s ridiculous and how I feel on the outside shouldn’t affect me as a person, but it does, okay? I feel better about myself and that’s okay. My Grandma was doing a nice thing and she knew what she was doing! So it doesn’t actually matter that you think I look like a sellout, okay? Because I’m happier. Conversation over.” 

Stiles turned around and got into the limo, followed quickly by Derek. Scott followed, now deadly silent after his best friend’s outburst.

They sat in silence for five minutes before Scott spoke again.

“Stiles, I’m sorry. You do…you do look good. I…you just shocked me, alright? I’m not used to seeing you so…so…”

“Hot?” Derek muttered, so quietly Stiles was sure he’d imagined it.

“Looking so good.” Scott finished, “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”

“It’s fine, man. Your rants just get a little much sometimes. And hey, I can help you with your campaign tonight, no Grandma meeting.”

“Awesome! I made up some posters last night and I think they’re really awesome. I even found some recycled paper so we’re not being total hypocrites and…”

Stiles zoned out of Scott’s speech, instead watching Derek out of the corner of his eye. He hadn’t actually said anything, but he had come to Stiles’ defence and possibly said he was hot. And maybe he was thinking Stiles was now on his level because, let’s face it, Derek had always looked good. Stiles smiled and nodded along to Scott’s suggestions of a green march as the limo pulled up outside school. Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad.

_____

The room went deadly silent when Stiles strolled into English that morning, and for one glorious moment he couldn’t figure out why. Then it hit him.

He slumped down next to Scott, trying to avoid the stares and comments. It took Harris five minutes to calm the class down, during which Stiles made a mental note to outlaw staring if he did decide to become a Prince. 

“So, I’m thinking we plan out a strategy for the campaign. Isaac’s printing the posters and stuff off now because he’s got a free period. I’ve booked a table on the front lawn for lunchtime, which will continue into the afternoon. You’ve got a free last period, right?”

“Yeah,” Stiles muttered, only half-listening. At his Grandmother’s request, he had been giving quite a lot of thought to being a Prince. After researching Genovia and his mother’s role in the royal family, he was actually thinking it didn’t sound too bad. His Grandmother had assured him that he wouldn’t be taking his place on the throne until she stepped down, and she had a good ten years left in her yet, so Stiles would have the chance to go to college, roadtrip around Europe with Scott and Isaac, and do most of the stuff he planned on doing anyway. It wasn’t like he had any career path to speak of, and running a country sounded like a good way to make a mark. He didn’t even have to tell anyone about it until the ball, and that was still a month away. He could cross that bridge when he got to it.

“…Derek’s just text back, he said he’ll help you man the booth in your free period so at least you won’t be online. He has a geeky fanclub that will probably sign up to anything if he’s advocating it and-”

Stiles suddenly snapped out of his thoughts, “Your brother Derek?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Just…he’s never done anything like that for you before.”

“Yeah, well, he says he doesn’t mind doing it this time. Something about owing people favours. I’m not going to look too far into it. Anyway, I can get Isaac to patrol the library then with flyers so we’ve got the rest of the school covered and…”

Stiles zoned out again, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. A whole ninety minutes with Derek made the rest of the day’s outlook brighten considerably. He saw Harris look their way and quickly elbowed Scott in the ribs. Detention was the last thing he needed with Prince Lessons tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your bookmarking, commenting and kudos-ing. The updates are going to be pretty sporadic so I apologise for that.


	4. Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Stiles go to the cinema, but there's a surprise waiting for them there.

Derek was already at the booth when Stiles arrived, arranging leaflets into neat piles. Stiles couldn’t help but be impressed with Scott’s effort. The saving the world crap was annoying but you couldn’t say Scott didn’t believe in the cause. There were even free earth-shaped stress balls for anyone that signed the petition.

Derek looked up and gave Stiles a smile that literally made him weak at the knees, “Hey, how was chemistry?”

“Not too bad, Harris only screamed at two people and, for once, one of them wasn’t me. It turns out doing homework well actually makes teachers happy, who knew?”

Derek chuckled, “Crazy. You wanna get the spare box of stress balls? People are actually signing this thing just to get one; Scott definitely knows his audience.”

“The boy’s a genius.” Stiles rummaged at the back of the booth, eventually finding the box. He turned around to hand it to Derek and saw a shadow had fallen over the booth.

“So, Stilinski, since when were you such a wannabe?”

It was Jackson Whittemore, the most popular and richest guy in the class, and possibly the biggest asshole in the world. He’d been trying to make Stiles’ life hell since middle school, and occasionally succeeded.

Stiles gave him a sour look, “And who exactly am I ‘wanting to be’ like?”

“Well, they say imitation is the highest form of flattery so…”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “Yeah, you wish. Are you gonna sign this petition or what?”

“Well, what’s it for?”

“To make the school greener.”

“Wow, sounds great. Carry on.”

“You can read the flyers for all the information, I didn’t set it up.”

“Ah, of course McCall did. You guys make such a sweet pair. Is it official yet?”

“You know he’s dating Isaac. And you also know it’s really not hilarious to make jokes about people’s sexuality.”

“Whatever.” He glanced at Derek, “Would’ve thought this was beneath you, Derek. Guess you’re just trying to make up for your little brother being a colossal loser, huh?”

Derek looked at him coldly, “Why don’t you use Daddy’s money for something useful, like buying some anti-douche lessons?”

“At least my father earned his money like an actual businessman, not through some ridiculous garage chain.” Jackson smirked, “Better watch yourself, McCall, you have a reputation to ruin, unlike Stilinski.”

“Either sign the petition or go away, Whittemore.”

Jackson sniffed, “Don’t think I’ll bother, actually.” And he walked away, taking care to bump the table on his way past so half the leaflets cascaded to the floor.

“That guy’s such a dick,” Stiles said, standing up to rescue the fallen leaflets, not realising Derek had done the same. The both reached to grab one and their hands touched, sending sparks through Stiles’ body. Derek pulled away quickly, clearing his throat and reorganising the leaflets into their previous neat piles.

“So, you up for watching the new Captain America tonight? It’s got really good reviews.” Derek smiled, “I know you like Cap.”

“He’s the best superhero!” 

“Not this again. You know it’s Batman. You KNOW it is.”

“Batman is just a wealthy guy who wanted to avenge his parents’ death. Steve Rogers is an actual hero, even before he got all buff!”

“No way! Batman is heroic…”

They continued in this vein for some time, only stopping when Scott appeared at the end of the day to help pack up.

“Yeah, by the way.” Stiles said, just before they dropped Derek and Scott off at the McCall house.

“Yeah what?”

“I wanna go see the new Cap movie with you.”

Derek smiled, “Awesome. See you outside the theatre at eight?”

“You definitely will.”

_____

The only movies Scott liked to watch were documentaries, and he felt the superhero genre was becoming too mainstream, so Stiles went with Derek and Scott went with Isaac and this suited everyone.

Or, it used to.

This time something felt different, and Stiles couldn’t quite put his finger on what. He carefully restyled his hair and chose an unobtrusive pair of jeans and t-shirt from the clothes his Grandmother had purchased. The glasses stayed on; Stiles didn’t see the point of putting contacts in for an evening. He went downstairs at half 7, examining his reflection for a bit longer than usual.

“Going somewhere nice?” His father asked from behind his newspaper.

“Just to the movies with Derek, nothing exciting.”

His Dad’s face suddenly appeared as the newspaper went down, “You don’t usually look that good when you’re going to the movies with Derek.”

“I don’t usually look this good ever.” Stiles examined his reflection again, “You’re just not used to the new hair and clothes.”

The Sheriff raised his eyebrows, “Yeah, maybe that’s it. Have fun.” And he disappeared behind the newspaper again.

Stiles rolled his eyes and headed out of the door. He was going to be late, as usual.

_____

Stiles parked around the corner from the theatre and jogged around the corner, only to be stopped in his tracks by a giant group of people with cameras. He stood on his tiptoes, trying to see what the commotion was and to check if Derek was okay. There was no sign of him so Stiles figured he’d be inside. He started to make his way through the paparazzi with some difficulty.

He tapped one photographer on the shoulder politely. “Excuse me, who are you all waiting for?” 

“That’s him! That’s him!” Someone yelled, and suddenly he was being blinded by the flashes going off all around him.

“Prince Krasny! How does it feel to know you’re the heir to the throne of Genovia?”

“Prince Krasny! What will you be wearing to the Independence Day ball?”

“Your highness, how do you like being referred to as ‘the American Prince’?

“Prince-”

“I, uh, what?” Stiles tried to push his way through but the crowd was too strong and too big, “I need to get through. I’m meeting s-”

“Stiles!” Derek pushed his way through the crowd and grabbed Stiles’ arm, “What the hell is going on?”

“I need to get inside!” Derek pulled him to the entrance, slamming the door behind them and turning to face Stiles.

“What was that about? Why were they using your real name? And why in the hell were they calling you a Prince?!”

“Why are you angry about this?”

“Because I came to the movies expecting to see a movie, not expecting to see my little brother’s best friend being attacked by the paparazzi! Wait…” Derek turned to face him, “Is it true? Are you actually a Prince?”

“Well, uh, technically no. I’m just the rightful heir to the Genovian throne. No big deal. So, are we still in time for the movie?”

“Stiles…”

“Derek, I really don’t want to talk about this because all I do is talk about this with my Grandmother and I’m freaking out and not dealing with it and I want to keep it separate from school for now, okay? But that doesn’t look likely so can we please just enjoy this movie and pretend like my life is any kind of normal right now?”

“Just one more question.”

“One more?”

“Is this why you had a makeover?” Derek had a strange expression on his face.

“Yeah, my Grandma didn’t think I looked good enough or something. I don’t know, she was probably right, right?”

Derek opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment the paparazzi got through the cinema staff barricade at the doors, causing commotion in the lobby. Stiles and Derek managed to dive into the Captain America screening and, amidst the chaos, Stiles was sure he heard Derek say one word.

“Wrong.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your love and likes! Hope you're enjoying it so far!! :)


	5. Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So Stiles' secret is out which means all his problems are solved, right? Wrong.

School the next day was hell. As soon as the limo pulled up, there were photographers and news reporters everywhere, all asking questions about Stiles’ plans and his future and all using his ridiculous real name. Eventually, the police had to be called for crowd control, and Stiles had to deal with his classmates’ reactions instead. He didn’t know which was worse.

Scott was giving him the cold shoulder, hurt that Derek found out before he did and convinced Stiles hadn’t told him due to lack of trust. Isaac was siding with Scott, an apologetic look on his face the whole time. Derek had left the cinema last night without another word to Stiles, and he and Scott hadn’t been there that morning when the limo had pulled up. It was funny how, despite everyone talking about him, no-one was actually talking to him. 

Stiles was almost relieved when the day was over and he could go to Grandmother’s house where nobody made snide remarks behind his back, or laughed right to his face. The butler showed him into the vast dining room as soon as he arrived and he found his Grandmother waiting for him, a strange look on her face.

“I hope you will accept my apologies over this terrible incident, Krasny. I certainly did not expect the betrayal to be so close to our little family, especially after he did your hair so nicely.”

“What are you talking about, Grandma?”

“Paulo sold you out to the press. He contacted your father under false pretences and found out you were attending the cinema. He used you to promote his own image and brand and I am truly sorry. I knew you didn’t want the attention and now I’m afraid you don’t have a choice.”

“It’s fine, Grandma,” Stiles sighed, “It would have got out somehow.”

“Oh, Krasny!” His Grandma suddenly swooped him into a huge hug, “You really do remind me of your mother, you know? She was always so brave and caring and…and…”  
“Thanks Grandma, really. I’m okay, this just means I have to deal with it a bit sooner, that’s all.”

She released him, watery eyed, “Yes, of course. Now, we’ll have to do a bit of damage control. I believe your school is having some kind of beach dance and I wondered if you would take a nice young lady with you to create some positive press?”

“A nice young, uh....”

“I believe it would be the most appropriate method. You are only seventeen, after all, and the press will now be looking very closely at your love life. Now-”

“But-”

“-I believe Lydia Martin, daughter of a very wealthy and respected family, is currently single and I can arrange a date with her to the beach party if that is what you’d prefer-”

“But, Grandma-”

“This is for the best, Krasny.” His Grandma said, putting an end to any of Stiles’ protests. “Now, while we’re on the subject, let us go through the appropriate ways to deal with the press, and then we can pick out some outfits for the beach party, hmm? I’m thinking maybe some chino shorts and a nice shirt. And of course you’ll need to…” 

Stiles zoned out, staring straight ahead and nodding occasionally as his Grandma droned on about male accessories and press etiquette. He and Scott had realised they were gay around the same time, when their sleepovers started consisting of talking about cute boys in the class, and not cute girls. Scott was out and proud, a fact which had never bothered anyone. He’d never really discussed it with anyone because it had never really mattered. He was pretty sure his Dad knew, or at least suspected. He hadn’t even considered what having royal blood would mean for his sexuality. Would it be something he had to hide for the rest of his life?

As Christopher was driving him home that night, his thoughts slid to Derek, and the hurt in his eyes when he’d left the cinema that night. At least being a Prince meant one thing – he didn’t have to worry about his crush going any further.

_____

The next day, Stiles found Scott on the lacrosse field, throwing balls into the net over and over again. Before he’d deemed it ‘too mainstream’, Scott had been the champion of the school’s lacrosse team, leading them to win the district championship twice before he’d ‘retired from his sports career’. He was still pretty good, Stiles thought, watching Scott put ball after ball into the back of the net.

Stiles walked forward towards his best friend, “Let’s see how you do with a goalie.”

Scott looked up, “Stiles, you scared me! And I’m still mad at you.”

Stiles pulled some gloves and a helmet on and took position in the net, “And why is that, exactly?”

Scott didn’t answer, instead hitting a ball over Stiles’ shoulder into the back of the net.

“You’ve gotta talk to me, man. You’re my best friend.” Stiles blocked a shot.

“If I’m your best friend, why didn’t you tell me you were a goddamn prince? Why didn’t you tell anyone?!” Scott shot the ball over Stiles’ shoulder again.

“I couldn’t tell anyone! I got sold out by my hairdresser, and I know that sounds freaking crazy. My whole LIFE is freaking crazy at the moment, and I don’t need my best friend going crazy on me as well!” Stiles blocked another ball, “Please, Scott. You gotta help me out, man. I’ve gotta take a girl to this stupid beach party next week!”

Scott stopped hitting the balls, “What? But…you don’t like girls in…in the beach-party-taking kind of way.”

“Yes, I know that, and it wouldn’t have been a problem, except for the fact that my Grandmother seems to think I’m straight and implied that it would be a problem for the family if I wasn’t.”

“Shit.” Scott put down his lacrosse stick, “What are you going to do?”

Stiles took his helmet off, “I’m going to ask Lydia Martin to the dance.”

_____

“Hey, uh, Lydia? Could I ask you a question?”

The redhead turned around, looking him up and down before raising an eyebrow, “I suppose…”

“What are you doing next Friday night?” 

“As in the Friday night that the school is hosting a beach party?” Lydia now raised both eyebrows, “Why?”

“I’d, uh…” Stiles caught a glimpse of Derek walking up the hall towards them and prayed that he wouldn’t hear this, “I’d like to ask you out on a date…to the beach party.”

Lydia stared at him for a moment before shutting her locker and looking him up and down one more time, “Well, your reputation is at an all-time high, as is your look, and it couldn’t hurt to be seen on a date with a prince so…” She smirked, “You can pick me up at seven, and please not in that piece of crap jeep you’re always driving.” She turned and strutted down the hallway, brushing past Derek, who was looking directly at Stiles.

“It’s not a piece of crap…” Stiles muttered, as the bell rang. He then turned quickly, running away from Derek’s inquiring looks.

_____

That night, Stiles was sitting at his desk past midnight, trying to catch up with all the homework that had been overlooked since he’d had been ‘outed’ as a prince. It was already past midnight when his IM went off, and he looked up to find a message from Derek.

**McDerek:** How’s the homework going?

**StillStiles:** How did you know that’s what I’m doing?

**McDerek:** I figured the prince lessons must be taking their toll.

**StillStiles:** You figured right. How is a teenage prince supposed to deal with all this? ;). Maybe I should just move to Genovia and make my own anti-homework laws.

**McDerek:** Ah, that would suck, who would I watch mainstream movies with?

**StillStiles:** You’re such a user.

**StillStiles:** Also, thanks. For talking to me again. I know it must have sucked finding out because of some freaking paparazzi. What did you think of the Cap 2 anyway?

**McDerek:** Don’t even think about it, I was pretty selfish. It wasn’t really your secret to tell. And…it was actually okay.

**StillStiles:** Okay? And you kidding me? It was a freaking game changer! And BUCKY RETURNING WAS JUST AWESOME. So good. Way better than Iron Man 3. I’m so freaking pumped for Avengers 2.

**McDerek:** Yeah, alright, it was awesome. But NOT as good as Iron Man 3. That was amazing. 

**McDerek:** Don’t you have homework to be doing? I’m logging off.

**McDerek:** Oh, but before I do, do you wanna come and watch Back to the Future with me next Saturday? They’re showing it for their ‘Retro Night’.

**StillStiles:** Sounds awesome. See you then!

**McDerek has logged off.**

Stiles clicked off the chat box with a huge grin on his face. It looked like things were finally coming together.


	6. Party Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles follows his Grandmother's wishes to take a girl to the beach party.

The next week passed by in a blur of homework, prince lessons, green campaigns and stress. Stiles hardly had time to think about anything but meeting his deadlines and trying to get his Grandma to rethink the “adorable Hawaiian shirt” for the beach party. At least she had agreed to lend him the ‘family ferrari’ to pick Lydia up in. Sometimes being the heir to a throne had its perks.

He picked her up, as promised, at seven on the dot. The (thankfully) green shirt he’d worn seemed to work, as she nodded in approval before waiting beside the passenger door until he remembered to open it. 

Since asking her to the party, Lydia had pretty much ignored him for the rest of the week, and that had suited Stiles just fine. After a very public break up with Jackson Whittemore a month ago, she had mostly been hanging out with her girlfriends, and girls like that still made Stiles nervous, despite them all being perfectly friendly to him since he’d become a prince. At least it was better than them ignoring him. 

It therefore surprised Stiles when Lydia literally did not stop talking for the entire ride to beach. She was actually, weirdly, really funny and really smart. The equations that Stiles had been struggling with in Chemistry for the past few weeks were breezed past in mere seconds. Stiles wondered why he’d never noticed before. 

They got to the beach and Lydia went to greet her friends while Stiles stood awkwardly, occasionally smiling at people who acted like they’d known him forever. None of his friends were here and he was already starting to regret coming. The only reason he was still there was because he had made a promise to his grandmother, and he kind of owed her.

“So, when are you going to ask me to dance?” Lydia had appeared at his side while he’d been off in a daydream.

“Oh, uh, I was just waiting for a good song, y’know.” Stiles looked around at all the other couples swaying together, “And I guess this is it!” He guided her to the dance floor, slipping his hand around her waist and grasping her hand with the other. 

They swayed for a while, not really talking about much and not really looking at each other. The sun was setting by now, making the sky look like someone had splattered it with various shades of purple, pink, red, orange and yellow. Stiles felt somewhat at peace for the first time in weeks. Maybe this prince thing wouldn’t be too bad after all.

“Stilinski!” Jackson Whittemore was at his side as the song ended, a strange look on his face, “You need to come, now!”

“What? Why?”

“There’s…something’s happened to your friend, McCall. I don’t know what it is but we found him passed out in one of the cabins.”

“Scott? But he’s not even here tonight…” Despite his better judgement, Stiles was following Jackson to a cabin on the other side of the party.

“I guess he came and didn’t tell you. He looks rough, man. I don’t know if someone slipped him something or…” Jackson trailed off, running ahead now as they approached the cabin, “A lot of people were using these around here.” And he shoved a white, hot tube into Stiles’ hand before shoving him through the cabin’s door.

Stiles thought he’d walked into a lightning storm. The light was blinding and he couldn’t see a thing. It didn’t take him long to realise that Scott wasn’t there, or to realise he’d been completely and utterly set up. The paparazzi must have paid Jackson off to get a scandal. And a scandal they got. The press were going to have a fucking field day.

______

“’Prince’s High Rise Causes a Rise in Getting High’”

“’Smoking Hot, or just Smoking Pot?’”

“’Queen’s Plans Go to Pot as Party Boy Prince Caught in Drug Scandal’”

“How are you going to explain this, Krasny?” His Grandmother had slammed the newspapers onto the table the moment he had arrived for prince lessons, “How are WE going to explain this? This is a disgrace! You have disgraced our family!”

“Grandma, I told you. It was a set up. This guy in my class has it in for me and he set me up. I’ve never smoked anything in my life, not even salmon!”

His Grandmother studied him coldly over the top of her glasses, “Do you really think this is a time in which to be telling jokes?”

“N-no, Grandma. All I’m saying is that…” Stiles’ words failed under his Grandmother’s glare, “Is that I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“No, it will not. This is inexcusable. I have spoken with your father on the telephone and he and I have both agreed that you are grounded for a week. No leaving the house except for school and prince lessons.”

Stiles stood up, “What?! No, Grandma, I have a thing tonight and I can’t miss it!” 

“You can, and will. And I will not have arguing, Krasny. I will see you on Tuesday for your prince lesson. Please do not be late.”

Stiles recognised defeat, and left, resisting the urge to kick a potted plant on the way out. He’d never been grounded in his life and of course it had to be when he had plans with Derek. 

He was going to kill Jackson Whittemore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry for the sporadic updating. I've just started a new job so it's just a case of when I remember/have written another chapter. Thank you guys for your kudos and commenting, you're all awesome and I hope you're still enjoying it!


	7. Back to the Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek manages to find a way around Stiles being grounded, all in the name of eighties movies.

**StillStiles:** Hey.

 **McDerek:** Hey yourself. Am I to assume you’ve sobered up since last night?

 **StillStiles:** Not funny. My Grandma and my Dad are furious. I’m grounded, if you can believe it.

 **McDerek:** Grounded? You? I can’t believe it.

 **StillStiles:** Well, I am. Which means no Back to the Future tonight.

 **McDerek:** What? No way! That sucks! I even got snacks!

 **StillStiles:** I’m really sorry, man. If you want to blame anyone, blame Jackson Whittemore.

 **McDerek:** Just generally, or for this event in particular?

 **StillStiles:** He set me up at the party by telling me Scott had been drugged and then putting a spliff in my hand so the paparazzi got a nice shot of me looking like a freaking stoner.

 **McDerek:** That asshole. I’m going to kill him.

 **StillStiles:** You’ll have to get in line. But it’s not worth it. I’m just sending good karmic vibes out that a piano will fall on him.

 **McDerek:** Why a piano?

 **StillStiles:** I figure I can make some cash on America’s Funniest Home Videos at the same time.

 **McDerek:** Fair enough.

 **McDerek:** So are you still allowed house guests? For homework purposes?

 **StillStiles:** I guess if they were furthering my education, it’s possible.

 **McDerek:** Great. Give me an hour.

 **StillStiles:** What? Are you coming over?

**McDerek has logged out.**

Stiles stared at his screen, desperately trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. He then stared around his (extremely untidy) room, caught a glimpse of his reflection, and bolted across the room, deciding to deal with his appearance before his cleanliness. 

_____

Exactly an hour later, there was a knock on the door. Stiles froze, straining to hear his Dad’s reaction to an unexpected (and possibly forbidden) guest. He crept towards the door, trying to make sense of the muffled voices downstairs.

“-struggling with Chemistry since before the Prince thing came out, and now I’m sure he’d appreciate the help. It would look great on my college applications, Sir.”

Sir. Derek could charm the pants off anyone. And Stiles kind of wished he would.

“Well, Derek, you know he’s been grounded…”

“Yes, Sheriff Stilinski, but I figured that if it was education-based, it wouldn’t count.” Stiles could practically hear the polite smile in his voice.

“Well, I suppose so. As long as it is strictly educational.”

Footsteps could be heard on the stairs, making Stiles jump halfway across his still untidy room. Like a thing possessed, he started throwing everything into his closet, only looking up when there was a knock on the door.

“Stiles?” Derek’s head poked around the door, “How did I do?”

Stiles slammed the door of his closet and turned to face the apparently floating head, “Very well. Almost convinced me that you were going to help me solve equations.”

Derek stepped into the room, closing the door behind him, “Looks like we’re going back…to the future.” He held out bluray copies of the trilogy.

Stiles grinned and took the DVDs, “Great Scott!” He moved over to the TV, sliding the DVD into disc player, “But what if my Dad comes in?”

“I’m still keeping my promise. You’re learning equations, but in my very own nerdtastic way, through Back to the Future references.”

Stiles groaned, “This is heavy, Doc.”

_____

Two hours later, they were both sat on the floor, leaning against Stiles’ bed. Amazingly, it had only taken an hour to complete Stiles’ homework. This may have been due to the fact that he had an actual genius helping him, or the fact that, really, the only things he was struggling with were maths and chemistry. Formulas really didn’t agree with him. Unless, of course, Derek McCall was sitting next to him, furrowing his brow as he tried to come up with a simple explanation, or chuckling when Stiles asked a particularly stupid question. 

Stiles was suddenly very aware of his body, which sounded ridiculous, but it was true. The hand that had only an hour ago had been clumsily writing equations could very easily reach over and grasp Derek’s, unbutton his shirt, explore his torso, and…well, let’s just say that Stiles was very aware of Derek’s body as well. He was also very aware of the fact that Derek had chosen to come over to his house, that Derek had chosen to spend time with him, his kid brother’s dorky best friend. As much as he tried not to overthink it, it kept creeping back into his mind. Why had Derek bothered to come over? He could watch Back to the Future with any of his friends or ‘fan club’ as Scott called them. Why did he keep inviting Stiles?

“Guys?” His Dad’s voice came from the corridor, making them both jump away from each other, “It’s getting late and I’m sure you got – uh, done – enough chemistry for one night. Time to go home, Derek.”

“Yes, Sir.” Derek jumped to his feet, “I’ll just gather up my notes and get going.”

“Thanks for the help, son. I’m sure you know how much we both appreciate you coming round.”

Stiles felt his face go hot. Did his Dad have to put everything so awkwardly? He jumped to his feet as well, gathering up Derek’s Mac and notebook.

“Thanks a lot, man. I do really appreciate this. It’s been a pretty shitty week.” He handed Derek’s stuff over, trying not to flinch as their fingers brushed.

“Don’t thank me, you saved me from a night of Scott and Isaac making out over their plans to save the world.” He chuckled, “I was disappointed when you had to cancel, so I’m just glad we got to do it anyway – watch the film I mean.”

“Yeah, me too. See you on Monday, I guess.” Stiles smiled, hoping the room’s semi-darkness wouldn’t give away his red cheeks.

Derek smiled back and headed towards the door. Stiles followed him, watching him walk towards the stairs from the landing. Derek hesitated by the front door, and turned back, looking up towards Stiles.

“I believe you, by the way. About Jackson.”

Stiles frowned, “I figured you did. You know what a dick he is.”

“Yeah, but…I just thought you needed to hear someone say it. The press is giving you a hard time and I know your Grandmother can’t be too happy so…just know I’ve got your back. Whatever happens.”

To his horror, Stiles felt a lump rise in his throat, “Uh, thank you. Thanks, Derek. Same.” He managed to choke out in a somewhat normal tone, “That’s…thank you.”  
Derek smiled and left, leaving Stiles seriously considering just throwing himself down the stairs so he would stop thinking about the rapidly developing crush he had on his best friend’s unattainable older brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, massive apologies about my super long gap between updates. Work sucks and Christmas/New Year was very busy. I'm determined to get this one finished soon! Much love to you all and I hope you had happy holidays :).


	8. The Right Move

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well holy shit I've actually updated. I'm a terrible person and don't deserve all the kudos but it's finally here. And Stiles is at his breaking point...

If Stiles had though school was bad when it was first revealed he was a prince, he was wrong. This was literally a living nightmare. Kids in the hallway either high-fived him, made a snide comment, or completely ignored him again. He didn’t know which was worse. At least this time, he had Scott and Isaac on his side, blocking most of the comments with thunderous faces. The press were outside the gates, asking every student to comment on his ‘scandalous behaviour’. And to make matters worse, Derek hadn’t been there for the limo ride that morning, leading Stiles to day-long paranoia about the events of Saturday night. Lydia had already apologised about what had happened, calling Jackson every name under the sun, and swearing she’d had nothing to do with it. Stiles believed her, and had accepted her apology gratefully. God knows she was the only one who’d bothered. He’d nearly run into Jackson in the hallway at lunchtime but had been quickly whisked away by Isaac, who seemed to be taking his bodyguard duties very seriously.

“Wait, you’re grounded?” Scott asked, his mouth full of veggie burger, “That’s not fair!”

“Tell me about it, dude. Only school and prince lessons for a week.” Stiles was chewing his food with a bit more decorum than his best friend, owing to the hundreds of eyes that were glued to their cafeteria table. He still had some semblance of a reputation left, after all.

“Did your Dad tell you this morning?” Scott had finished his veggie burger (thank God) but had now moved onto shovelling fries into his mouth by the handful.

“No, on Saturday. Why?”

Scott looked confused, “Didn’t Derek go over to yours on Saturday night?”

Stiles felt his cheeks warm up, “Uh…yeah. But that…that was just to help me with homework. We were supposed to watch Back to the Future but I had to cancel but I needed help with chemistry so Derek came over. It was educational so he couldn’t really say no.”

“Alright, dude. I didn’t ask for your freaking life story. I just wanted to know if your Dad was being really harsh on you. You could totally sue him for parental injustice or something.”

“Parental injustice?” Isaac raised his eyebrows.

Scott shoved him in the arm, “I wanna do environmental law, not family law.”

“Where is Derek, by the way?” Stiles asked as casually he could.

“Some geeky computer club field trip, I don’t know.” Scott continued shovelling fries, “He was up at the crack of dawn giving some girl a ride so maybe he’s skipping. Dude spends half his time in his room so he could be shacking up with her for all I know.”

“I doubt it.” Isaac said, “Derek’s not a douche. He’d at least make it official before ‘shacking up’.”

Stiles nodded along, trying to ignore the sudden twist his stomach gave. Who was this girl that Derek was giving rides to? Was she a member of the computer club? Probably. She probably was acing chemistry as well, and in the honours classes for everything. Like Derek. She probably even liked Back to the Future, and preferred Batman to Captain America. She probably wasn’t the sole heir to a small European country either.

Some people had all the luck.

_____

If Isaac noticed Stiles’ bad mood for the rest of the day, he was either too tactful to say anything, or just assumed it was because he was grounded. Scott, on the other hand, was not so tactful. He confronted Stiles in the limo on the way home.

“What’s up with you today? You’ve been in a shitty mood since lunch.”

“What? No, I haven’t.”

“Yeah, you have. Even Isaac noticed and you know what he’s like, head in the clouds. Not me though, so what’s up?”

“Alright, Scott ‘Nothing-Gets-Past-Me’ McCall, chill. I’m just bummed because I got grounded, the whole world thinks I’m such huge stoner, I got shit from my Grandmother, and I’m going home to an empty house where I’ll be doing nothing until my Dad comes home at midnight. Is that enough reason for you, huh, Detective?”

“Alright, jeez. I obviously touched a nerve.” Scott looked out of the window for a moment, “Maybe you could work on your Star Wars fanfic?”

Stiles groaned, pretending to bang his head on the divider in front of him.

“Or you could come round to mine? I’ve got some campaign leaflets that need designing.”

“As fun as that sounds, I’m grounded, remember? No leaflet designing for me.”

“Who’s going to know?”

“I will.” A voice replied from the driver’s seat.

“See? Chris will totally rat me out if I break my grounding rules. Thank you, by the way!” He half-shouted to the driver. He swore he could hear him chuckling.

“Well, what if I come round to yours? Leaflet designing definitely constitutes as educational.” Scott grinned.

Stiles sighed, “Let me guess, Isaac’s busy tonight?”

Scott gasped, pretending to be mortally offended, “How dare you! I would never choose my boyfriend over my best friend.” Stiles raised his eyebrows, “Well, not when my best friend is on the brink of some kind of royalty-induced breakdown.”

Stiles sighed, looking out of the window, “Leaflet designing sounds great.”

_____

Sheriff Stilinski came back from his shift early the next morning and, after hanging up his jacket and gun, went to his son’s room. After getting no response to his knock, he opened the door to see Scott and Stiles both passed out and surrounded by leaflets proclaiming ‘IF YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT THE WORLD, YOU’RE AN ASSHOLE’. He smiled and closed the door, sending a quick text to Melissa so she’d know the whereabouts of her youngest son.

_____

Both Scott and Stiles were bleary-eyed the next morning, and Stiles found his zombie-like state was actually beneficial as it meant he could ignore his classmates’ comments more easily. In his sleepless state, he even found himself agreeing to help Scott and Isaac hand out more leaflets at lunch. Maybe he should only get about three hours sleep every night. He was also concentrating on ignoring the fact that Derek’s school trip seemed to be a two-day thing, meaning that there would potentially be a sleepover situation involving members of Derek’s fan club, so that was taking up more energy than one would expect.

The zombie bubble was burst at lunch, however, when a dark shadow fell over the leaflet table. The campaign had been going surprisingly well, with over a hundred signatures in the first half hour of lunch alone. Stiles suspected this might have had something to do with the free pens Scott was giving out that read ‘I HELPED TO SAVE THE WORLD TODAY’. Sometimes, Stiles wondered how Scott managed to maintain his perfect GPA and find the time to campaign at the same time. It was almost like he was super human or something.  
Anyway, with over a hundred signatures (and counting), things were going well. Hardly anyone decided to comment on Stiles’ weekend antics, and it was fun hanging around with Scott and Isaac. Then, a dark shadow fell over the table.

“Do you guys want to save that for another time? Some of us actually want to keep our lunch down.”

Stiles looked up to see Jackson looking pointedly at Scott and Isaac, particularly their hands, which were intertwined. It was actually pretty low on the PDA scale, considering they had been making out a few minutes ago. 

“What’s your problem, Whittemore?” Isaac raised his eyebrows, “We’re not doing anything wrong.”

“Really? Because I think a lot of people would disagree with that.” Jackson smirked, “Some people might even call it against nature, or worse.”

Scott opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get anything out, Stiles had stood up, “You know what, Jackson? Some people might say that your blatant homophobia is just an act to cover up your own stupid insecurities. Some people might say you’re just a stupid little child that’s really scared he won’t amount to anything and that his high school days are all he’ll have to show for a life wasted as someone else’s inferior. Some people might say you’re a real-”

“You’d better shut the hell up, Stilinski, before a knock a new hole in your face.”

“If that will make you feel like you’ve achieved something then go ahead. I am so sick of you thinking you have any power over any of us. In case you haven’t noticed, nobody actually likes you, Jackson. Your only friends are just pathetic bitch boys who only do your bidding because you have rich parents whose money makes their lives a little bit easier.”

“SHUT UP!” Jackson screamed, his fists balled by his sides, “Just shut up!”

“When are you going to wake up and realise that your life is miserable, pathetic and just a bit sad? All the money in the world won’t buy you what Scott and Isaac have, and I think that’s why you’re so angry right now, isn’t it? You’re jealous.”

WHAM.

Jackson’s fist collided with the side of Stiles’ face, making him see stars. Before he knew what he was doing, he had jumped over the table and punch Jackson square in the jaw. Scott and Isaac ran to pull him off, while Jackson’s cronies ran to pull him off. They both stared at each other, panting slightly. Stiles could feel blood filling his mouth, and spat it out, wiping his mouth.

The bell rang, making them all jump, and Jackson pulled himself away from his friends, giving Stiles one last look before turning away and striding towards the school.  
“You’re going to get in so much shit, Stiles.” Scott whispered, as they watched Jackson make his way towards the principal’s office.

Stiles didn’t answer. He was too busy looking towards the school gates where Derek Hale was standing, staring at him in disbelief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. Please leave kudos and comments :D xxx


	9. Diplomacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles faces the aftermath of him punching the school's star athlete in the face.

“Well, this is a surprise, Mr Stilinski.” The principal surveyed him over his glasses, taking in the swollen cut over his lip and a slowly blackening eye, “Or should I be calling you ‘Your Highness’?”

“Stiles is fine.” 

“I believe I’ve only ever seen you in here twice before today. One time with your Grandmother to discuss your safety requirements in order to continue your attendance at this school, and the other for you filing a complaint on a friend’s behalf because you felt the cafeteria was not providing enough vegetarian options.”

Stiles shrugged. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Jackson smirking at him through the principal’s office window. At least he was also showing some sign that he’d been in a fight, sporting a bruised nose.

“So why don’t you tell me why exactly you, to quote Mr Whittemore: ‘wailed on him for no reason’?”

“He knows exactly why I did it.” Stiles looked up to meet the Principal’s eyes, “He made a blatantly homophobic comment towards my best friend and his boyfriend without any provocation. I’ll admit it was a bit of overreaction but it’s not the first time such a comment has been made and, unless I had ‘wailed’ on him, it probably wouldn’t be the last. I was standing up for my friend, Sir, and for the right of two people to hold hands in this school which, may I remind you, is supposed to be a safe place for all students, regardless of gender, race or sexual orientation.”

Scott would have been proud of him, Stiles thought, as the Principal fixed him with a slightly less composed look than before. And maybe his Grandma would as well…for the whole diplomacy thing. 

“Is there anybody who can verify this apart from Mr McCall and Mr Lahey?”

“Everyone within a hundred metre radius of the quad would have heard what he said.” Stiles said, glumly thinking of Derek’s face by the school gates.

“Well of course we will get witness statements to give a third party perspective on the incident. Homophobia is something we take very seriously at this school and I will discuss the matter further with Mr Whittemore to make sure he understands his actions were unacceptable. You may leave.”

Stiles’ eyes widened in disbelief, “I’m not getting punished?”

The Principal shook his head, “Not right now. However, if I find your statement to be untrue you’ll be hauled back in here pronto. No exceptions.”

Stiles nodded and left the office, ignoring Jackson’s confused look at he walked past. Maybe he was cut out for diplomatic leadership after all.

_____

**McDerek** : So was that really you I saw punching Whittemore in the face today or should I send congratulatory flowers elsewhere?

Stiles stared at the screen, his cheeks warming at the thought of Derek buying him flowers. Did this mean that Derek wasn’t mad at him? Maybe he’d just been surprised before, rather than repulsed. 

**StillStiles** : It was me. I assume you still have my address for those flowers?

**McDerek** : Expect them in 3-5 working days. Unless you’d prefer another token of my admiration? 

**McDerek** : Did you get in trouble?

**StillStiles** : Surprisingly, no. I pulled the whole ‘human rights act’ and told the Principal the truth and he said he’d verify it with eyewitnesses and let me know the outcome. But for now, no punishment. 

**McDerek** : Nice. And how did your Grandmother react?

**StillStiles** : No prince lessons tonight so I guess I’ll find out tomorrow. She probably won’t appreciate the punching thing but I’m hoping the whole ‘defending my best friend’s human rights’ will change her mind.

**McDerek** : Sure. And thank you for that, by the way.

**StillStiles** : For what?

**McDerek** : For defending my brother’s human rights. 

**StillStiles** : No problem. Just the work of your friendly neighbourhood prince. 

**McDerek** : Speaking of Spider-Man, they’re showing the Tobey Maguire movie at the drive-thru tomorrow night. You wanna go after prince lessons?

**StillStiles** : Sounds good. I’ll accept you buying tickets in lieu of the congratulatory flowers.

**McDerek** : It’s a date. See you tomorrow.

**McDerek has logged out.**

Stiles shut his laptop screen, pretty sure his cheeks were now on fire and feeling like he might either throw up or…nope, that was it. Did Derek McCall just…Nope. Stiles shook his head and took his shirt off, throwing it onto the pile of unwashed laundry in the corner of his room. He climbed into bed and took his glasses off before turning the light off, leaving himself lying in the darkness. He lay for a minute, letting himself smile before rolling onto his side and closing his eyes.

_It’s a date._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can only apologise for not updating this fic for two whole years and say that it's only the fact that you guys keep commenting and giving it kudos that I'm updating it now. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and don't worry, I'll be updating a lot sooner than last time!


	10. Sleeping With The Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things can only go uphill from here, right?
> 
> Right?

The next day, as Stiles was putting his books in his locker, an all-too-familiar shadow fell over him. He looked up to see Jackson Whittemore standing next to him, still sporting a slightly bruised nose and looking furious. Stiles feigned calm as he closed his locker door and turned to face Jackson.

“Yes?”

“I was hoping you could tell me why in the HELL I have detention for the next two months, Stilinski? Because I sure as hell don’t know.” 

“Did you ever think maybe it was something to do with the fact that you’re a homophobic asshole?” Stiles could feel his hands shaking, “And that you attacked and physically harmed me for no reason other than the fact that you can’t take the truth?”

Jackson narrowed his eyes, “Speaking of not being able to take the truth, I notice you spend a lot of time with Derek McCall. Some might say too much time. I guess you didn’t hear about what actually happened on that overnight trip?”

“Shut up, Whittemore. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I don’t? Then how come I know that McCall and Kate Argent were caught doing the nasty in a hotel room on Sunday night? Kate Argent even asked her friend if she had a condom before they went on the trip. Apparently they’d been planning on doing it for a while.”

Stiles froze, feeling his chest tighten as he saw the satisfied grin on Jackson’s face.

“You’re full of shit.”

“You know that’s not true, don’t you? Ask anyone in the computer club and they’ll tell you the same thing I just told you.” Jackson smirked, “Have a nice day, Stilinski.”

Stiles watched him leave, still feeling as though his feet were glued to the corridor tiles. It couldn’t be true.

And yet…

Everyone in the school knew Kate Argent was intent on bedding Derek McCall. She had been since they were in seventh grade and Derek had figured out that he could work out and study at the same time. That was probably around the same time Stiles had realised he also liked his best friend’s older brother in more than a friendly way. He felt like he was going to throw up…and not in a good way this time.

The bell rang and he started walking to his history class without really realising where he was going. He wasn’t sure he wanted to go and watch Spider-Man with Derek tonight anymore. He wasn’t sure he physically could without being paranoid Derek was leading him on, or that he was making it all up in his head. He wasn’t really sure about anything anymore.

_____

“What’s up with you today?” Scott asked around the falafel in his mouth, “I thought you’d be excited at the thought of geeking out about Spider-Man with my brother tonight.”

Stiles pushed his food around on his plate, “Yeah…I don’t know if I can do that anymore.”

“What? You love going to the movies with Derek.” Scott frowned, “What’s going on Stiles?”

“Nothing.”

“You’ve not even touched your food and you’ve had your pants in a twist since history this morning. So what gives? Did you accidentally read a spoiler about Avengers 2? Or Game of Thrones? What is it?”

Stiles took a deep breath, “I heard a rumour that your brother slept with Kate Argent on that computer club thing they were at on Sunday. And…I don’t know maybe he wants to take her instead of me so they can make bea-”

“Stiles, you can’t be serious! You really think my brother would have sex with that leech?”

“You know as well as I do that she’s wanted it forever! Maybe he finally gave in to her! She’s really pretty and…and maybe that’s what Derek wanted. Or what he wants. I don’t know. All I know is 

Kate asked her friend for a condom and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was true!”

“Stiles, that’s my brother you’re talking about.” Scott looked annoyed now. Isaac was keeping very quiet, looking down at his plate.

“Yeah well it’s not my fault if your brother is the new school manslut. Or whatever the phrase is. Maybe he’s - he’s studding himself and his great DNA out to the computer club!”

“Stiles…” Scott said warningly. 

“I don’t know! Maybe he’s like selling himself out for some extra cash to get that computer equipment he’s always wanted. God knows there would be enough girls in this school that would take him up on the offer. He isn’t exactly keeping himself to himself, is he? I -” Stiles faltered as he heard someone clear their throat. Looking up, he saw Derek standing behind his younger brother, his mouth set in one thin line.

“I…I heard about your little escapade over the weekend and…I think you should take Kate Argent to Spider-Man tonight and…I’ve gotta go. Bye.” Stiles practically ran out of the cafeteria, leaving the three boys stunned in his wake.

“What the hell was that about?” Scott said, glancing up at his brother.

Derek said nothing as he watched Stiles running away, but Scott could feel his heavy breathing from a foot away.


	11. Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles regrets his actions. And Grandmothers know all.

“Krasny. Krasny. KRASNY!” 

Stiles jerked to attention, almost sending his cup of tea spiralling to the floor.

“Really! What is the matter with you today? You’re like a dog who has lost his bone!” His Grandmother was staring at him from across the large dining room table, her own cup of tea balanced effortlessly in her hands. 

“I…I just…I got some bad news yesterday, that’s all.” Stiles placed his cup on the table carefully, “I’m sorry, Grandma.”

“Well, I should think so. You do realise the ball is on Saturday, don’t you? I do need your invitation list as soon as possible, Krasny. Now, I’ve obviously extended an invitation to your father but I was wondering if you wanted to invite some of your friends or…anyone else? Obviously not those dreadful people from the beach party but, of course, Miss Martin is more than welcome.”

Stiles sighed, “I don’t know if my friends will want to come to the ball, Grandma. I kind of acted like a d…like a very rude person yesterday at lunch.”  
_A rude enough person that my best friend, his boyfriend and the guy I love didn’t talk to me for the whole day and I felt so shitty that I skipped school today just to clear my head_ , Stiles thought.

“Is this related to the bad news you were talking about?” His Grandmother surveyed him across the table.

“Yeah, I think…I think I might have let my emotions get the better of me and…I said something I regretted to someone I really like. All because of a rumour I heard from someone I don’t even trust!”

“Well then, you have two clear choices, Krasny.”

Stiles stared at her, “I do?”

His Grandmother nodded, “Of course. You either need to verify the rumour or you need to trust whoever was implicated in the rumour is the innocent party. Either way, you’ll get your answer. You also need to stop gaping at me, dear, I may be a queen but, trust me, teenagers all behave in the same way.”

Stiles closed his mouth, “Sorry, I just…that was impressive, Grandma.”

“Thank you, dear. Now, let us continue our lesson. When visiting Japan, from which side should you expect your tea to be poured?”

______

The next day, Stiles stopped outside the McCall residence only to be informed by their housekeeper that the boys had left already. Even though he knew he deserved the silent treatment from both brothers, it didn’t stop the absence of them in the limo stinging a little.

As soon as Stiles stepped into the building, someone grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him into a nearby janitor’s closet.

“Isaac!” Stiles gasped as the boy turned to face him, “What are you doing?”

“I could ask you the same question!” Isaac looked angrier than Stiles had ever seen him, “What was your problem the other day? You know Derek wouldn’t sleep with Kate Argent! Where did you even hear that? And why would you ever believe it? Are you blind and stupid or…or what?”

“Isaac, man, chill, okay? I don’t know why I flipped out like that and…I…I don’t know why I believe Jackson Whittemore of all-”

“Jackson told you? JACKSON?! Why in the hell would you believe Jackson? You know he’s just trying to get back at you for getting him into trouble.”

“I know that now. I-I just…” Stiles’ cheeks were burning, “It just made more sense to me that Derek would sleep with Kate and then…” Stiles shook his head, “Nothing. Look, I’ve really got to get to class, okay?” He moved towards the door but Isaac blocked his path.

“Stiles…it’s okay. I know you’re in love with Derek.”

Stiles turned around, pretty sure his face had just set on fire, “What?! No! That’s…that’s crazy. You’re crazy, Isaac.”

Isaac smiled, “Stiles, I’ve known for a long time, okay? Don’t you think I’m kind of an expert on someone crushing hard on a McCall brother? And I’m about 98% pretty sure Derek returns the feelings okay? Just like I’m 100% sure he didn’t sleep with Kate Argent because he’s hella gay.”

Stiles laughed weakly.

“But you’ve got to make it up to him. He was really hurt when he overheard you in the cafeteria. Scott said he could hear him pacing up and down his room all night like some kind of crazy predator. And he looked bad yesterday. I mean not bad bad because, well, those brothers have some damn good genes but…tired, you know? Unhappy.”

Stiles nodded, “I know. God, I’m such a shitbag. I can’t believe I did this.”

Isaac smiled, “You’re not a shitbag. You’re just a slightly paranoid guy in love. Jackson Whittemore, on the other hand, IS a shitbag…but even he could tell you and Derek liked each other as more than friends. That’s the only reason he said what he said. I asked Lydia about it yesterday and she said that Derek just stayed in his hotel room the whole time they were there, unless he had to come down to attend some computer club talk. I bet he hardly even saw Kate Argent, even if she did ask her friend for a condom.”

Stiles nodded, “You know, Scott should let you talk more. You’re probably the wiser of the two.”

Isaac shrugged, “Maybe. But I like watching Scott talk about his passions. Especially when those passions include me.” He winked and moved towards the door, “I’m sure you’re already planned some spectacularly geeky way to make it up to Derek…but make it right with Scott first, okay? He hates arguing with you and I hate him being miserable. He’s got a free first period so he’s probably outside at a table somewhere promoting something to do with the environment.”

“Gotcha. And…Isaac? Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Remember, I’m your friend as well, not just because of Scott.”

“I know. Thank you for that, as well.”

“No problem. No more being a dick, okay?” Isaac clapped an arm around Stiles’ shoulder as they left the janitor’s closet.

Stiles smirked, “No promises. And you realise that we both just came out of a closet together?”

“The irony hasn’t escaped me.”

______

“Hey.”

Stiles was standing in front of yet another campaign table Scott had set up in the school quad. He’d figured out a long time ago that Scott was single-handedly funding most of the student council activities through his various campaign, protests and marches. He had also figured out that joining Scott on even just half of his campaigns could get a person accepted into just about any college in the country, providing they also had a 4.0 GPA. For possibly the millionth time this year, Stiles wondered how Scott had the time to be both a full time genius and campaigner. He figured it was either some kind of secret superpower or a superhuman sense of organisation. Either way, Scott was going to be the first name behind his Dad’s in people credited with any success Stiles achieved. And he wasn’t mad about it at all. That’s why it hurt that extra little bit when Scott ignored him, like he was doing right now.

“Guess who shoved me into a janitor’s closet this morning?”

“Was it my brother? I hear he’ll fuck just about anyone these days.” Scott was still not looking at Stiles.

“Scott, come on. You know I didn’t mean that. I was…I was just letting my imagination and apparent paranoia get the better of me. I know Derek would never sleep with Kate Argent. And I know I was a huge douche and I’m so sorry, Scotty. I really…” Stiles took a deep breath, “I really fucked things up, didn’t I? But I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. And if it even makes up for it a tiny bit, I really want you and Isaac to come to the ball my Grandmother is throwing tomorrow. It’ll be nice and…and there’s free food and…and I want my best buddy there because he’s not been talking to me for more than 24 hours and I’m already going crazy and I couldn’t sleep because I was just going over and over what I said and how I hurt you. And I’d understand if you never wanted to talk to me again but if you do, then I’ll see you tomorrow night, okay?” 

Stiles started walking away, wondering if he could hide in the library or if that would make it obvious that he was skipping his first period class. He had just reached the walkway that circled the quad when he heard Scott shout after him.

“What the hell am I supposed to wear to a ball with A DAY’S NOTICE?”

Stiles smiled and turned around, only to be nearly knocked over by Scott leaping on him.

“I’m sure you can find a tux from somewhere. Or just wear a shirt and sweatpants. I don’t care! I’m just happy you don’t hate me anymore!”

Scott grinned, “Well, I’d probably go crazy if any rumours about Isaac sleeping with a girl came up on my radar.” He stopped, “Wait, does this mean you’re agreeing to take on your prince title?”

Stiles shrugged, “I’ve honestly still not made a decision about it. There are a lot of upsides but…you know, I’d have to give up so many of my rights and my independence. I’m going to think about it properly tonight and hope inspiration strikes.”

“Well, you know I think you should do it. You’re smart, you’re way more confident since your ‘makeover’, and you’re the representation we need in a powerful position.”

“Oh yeah because white men don’t get enough representation.”

“You know that’s not what I mean. I just want you to know, I’m pro-Prince Stiles.”

Stiles grinned, “Well thanks, man. It means a lot. I hope I’m smart enough to get your brother back in my good books, that’s all.”

“If anyone can do it, you can.”


	12. Spider-Man to the Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Derek forgive Stiles?

Derek McCall was pacing up and down in his room for the third night running. He felt like a caged animal, like he could run and run for a thousand miles without stopping. Maybe he would have apart from the fact that the sky outside was a deep grey and looked like it could open at any minute. He threw himself onto his bed and picked up a book at random and tried to kid himself that he was reading it. 

He’d just realised that he was reading a comic when he heard a tap on his bedroom window. Derek looked up and almost fell off his bed when he saw that Spider-Man - or at least someone dressed like Spider-Man - was dangling upside down outside his window.

“What the-?!” Derek ran forward and opened his window, “Stiles?”

“Nope, definitely not Stiles. He did ask me to give you a message though,” ‘Spider-Man said, “He said it’s really important that you got it so he sent me, your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.”

“He would’ve been better sending the Flash if he wanted it done so urgently,” Derek smirked.

“I have no idea who that is as it sounds like someone in a different universe to mine. Anyway, Stiles said that this was to make up for missing my movie.”

Derek nodded, “It does fit together more succinctly. Continue, Spider-Man.”

“Stiles said he’s been a real asshole over the past two days and he’s worried he’s ruined everything. He says he was duped into believing a rumour about you by an evil supervillain and he thinks the only reason he believed it was because of his own self-doubt…which is ridiculous because I happen to think he’s hella fly.” ‘Spider-Man’ looked at Derek (he guessed, he was wearing a mask), “Get it? Because I’m a spider man and…never mind. So, anyway, I - uh, Stiles wanted to say he was really sorry and he hopes you two can still be friends because he hates not hanging out with you anymore.”

“Does Stiles know I didn’t actually sleep with Kate Argent? Because I -”

“Stiles knew it all along, he just had a momentary lapse of judgement. It happens to the best of us, even me, Spider-Man.” ‘Spider-Man’ started to ascend up towards the roof, “So can I tell him you’re good? Because if you are he’d like to see you at the royal Genovian embassy tonight for a special ball.”

“Wait.” Derek stepped towards ‘Spider-Man’, “If you’re Spider-Man hanging upside down in the pouring rain after saving something, even if that something is two peoples’ relationship, does that make me Mary-Jane? Because if it does, it means I get to do this.” He reached forward and pulled the Spider-Man mask down, revealing a small portion of his face underneath. Slowly, he leant forward and softly kissed the boy hanging upside down in front of him. He pulled back and watched as the lips parted into a big goofy grin.

Suddenly, ‘Spider-Man’ sped off upwards, disappearing from Derek’s view. Derek grinned and watched him ascend before closing the window. He checked his watch and rushed towards his wardrobe, grateful he’d saved his homecoming tuxedo. 

_____

Meanwhile, two boys were sitting above him on a very balcony. One was wearing a Spider-Man suit and a big slaphappy smile and the other was rubbing at his hand, where a big blister had appeared.

“You so owe me for this, Stiles,” Scott cringed, “I think I got a rope burn. Not to mention we could both fall to our deaths any given second.”

“Off your very flat balcony? I really doubt it. I think the hairiest moment was me literally putting my life into your hands as you tied rope to my ankles and lowered me down using nothing but your weirdly inhuman strength.”

Scott shrugged, “Lugging a giant backpack filled with flyers really strengthens your core. So what happened?” He glanced sideways at Stiles, “Did he forgive you?”

Stiles smiled dreamily, “He didn’t just forgive me. He kissed me. It was…it was good. Real good.”

Scott, “Alright, loverboy. You do realise that the ball starts in an hour and you’re currently soaking wet and wearing a Spider-Man suit, right?”

“Yeah, we should probably go. To the Spider-mobile!”

______

“I really don’t know what you’re thinking, arriving at this late hour! I told you that you needed to be here at least three hours early and yet you arrive with thirty minutes until we open the doors, soaking wet and with no good explanation. Really Krasny, are you trying to raise my blood pressure?”

“I’m sorry, Grandma, I - I actually trying to take your advice.”

His Grandmother stopped her flapping and looked him for a second before suddenly and very quickly grabbing him into a hug, “And did it work?”

“I - I think so. We’ll find out tonight.” Stiles found himself being ushered away into another room to get ready. He could see a selection of suits hanging on a rail for him to choose from.

“Is he coming? To the ball?”

“Yeah he’s - wait.” Stiles stopped suddenly, causing his hairstylist to nearly fall over, “You knew it was a guy all along?”

He saw his Grandmother’s smile just before the doors closed between them, “I told you, teenagers all behave in exactly the same way.”


	13. And They All Lived...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles finally arrives at the Genovian Independence Day ball...

Stiles stared at himself in the mirror, thinking about how much his life had changed in a matter of weeks. How much he had changed in a matter of weeks, and not just on the outside. He thought about how he’d reconnected with a member of family he’d only been vaguely aware of before, how he’d made a new alliance with Lydia Martin and even grown to know Isaac outside of his relationship with his best friend. He’d stood up for his friends and grown more confident every day. Maybe it was a sign that he would make a good prince after all, with a bit of royal training, perhaps. 

“Sir? They’re ready when you are.”

“Alright, I’ll be there in a second,” Stiles pulled down his forest green waistcoat and adjusted his suit jacket one last time. He’d been prepped and polished to perfection for the last thirty minutes and was well aware that this was probably the best he’d ever looked. He hair had been combed back and his suit had been made to his measurements. He kind of felt like Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Inception. 

With one last glance - and a deep breath - he followed the butler to the main ballroom. He could hear the announcer guy (who knew those existed outside old Disney movies?) clear his throat ready for his arrival and managed to compose his face before the doors opened in front of him.

“Presenting Krasny Phillipe Stilinski Renaldi of Genovia.” 

The butler gestured towards a podium that had been set up at the top of the staircase in the huge ballroom, overlooking what seemed like at least a thousand people. Stiles managed to walk to the podium, feeling slightly like his legs had been replaced with robotic limbs he didn’t have full control over. He could see his father standing in the crowd, beaming proudly, with Scott’s parents standing next to him. Scott and Isaac were stood near the back, looking annoyingly handsome in their matching royal blue suits. 

And there was Derek, looking devastatingly gorgeous in a tuxedo, standing right at the bottom of the staircase with his eyes fixed on Stiles and a small smirk on his face. Stiles managed a small smile in return as he found his place behind the podium before clearing his throat, trying to ignore his shaking hands.

“Eleanor Roosevelt said: ‘do one thing every day that scares you’. This, of course, is a famous and maybe slightly overused quote mostly used when a person is facing a difficult decision or maybe a personal turmoil. There is, however, a similar quote she wrote in her book which I think applies more to my slightly odd situation: ‘you must do the thing you think you cannot do’.  
A month ago I found out a was the heir to a throne in a country most people in America haven’t heard of. I’m not going to lie, I completely - if you’ll pardon the phrase - flipped out upon hearing this news, and was adamant that I wanted to give up my right to the throne straight away and never hear about it ever again. I knew with all certainty that I ‘couldn’t do it’. 

But curiosity is a funny thing. Now that I knew about my potential I couldn’t stop seeing it in myself. I suddenly found myself often thinking about how privileged I am to have even a chance to take a job that means I can actually change peoples’ lives for the better and help people who really need it. To be able to stand up and fight for what you believe in and actually have people listen to you is a rare gift, one that definitely doesn’t come around every day.”

Stiles looked out to the crowd, finally relocating his father’s shining face in it.

“So this morning when I woke up, I was just Stiles. But now I chose to be forevermore, Krasny Phillipe Stilinski Renaldi, Prince of Genovia.”

The audience erupted into cheers and applause, almost knocking Stiles back with the sudden noise. He heard a sniff and turned to find his Grandmother sobbing quietly into a handkerchief, a huge smile on her face. His father was crying too, tears streaming down his face as he clapped more loudly than anyone else in the room. Stiles grinned, finally sure he’d made the right decision.

______

Stiles watched his Grandmother step down from the podium, after making her own speech giving her consent to him taking his official title as a Prince. He applauded with the rest of the audience as she watched her glide down the stairs past him, heading to the main ballroom floor. The crowd parted and Stiles suddenly realised what was happening.

Dancing.

With a partner.

He watched as his Grandma curtseyed to the Genovian Prime Minister and they started dancing together, him twirling her around the room slightly more than necessary. His Grandmother had been over this moment about a hundred time during prince lessons. He must find a partner and it must be someone of importance because the whole room would be watching him. He caught a glimpse of Lydia’s bright hair in the distance; she was talking to Scott and Isaac but caught his eye across the room. He stared at her for a moment and saw her shake her head and mouth something at him. He squinted at her, confused until he heard someone clear their throat. 

“Your…your royal highness? May I have this dance?”

It was Derek, looking adorably nervous and slightly flushed. He held his hand out to Stiles, and Stiles was slightly relieved to see it was shaking slightly. 

“Y-yes, of course,” Stiles followed Derek down the staircase, aware that every pair of eyes in the room was on him. They finally reached the ballroom floor and turned to face each other. Stiles suddenly realised he’d never been taught who leads when it’s two men dancing and not a man and a woman. Where would his hands go on a guy? Should he lead? Did Derek even know how to waltz? 

All these thoughts went out of his head when he felt a warm hand in his. He placed his hand on Derek’s back and felt Derek do the same, pulling him closer. He could hear cameras clicking behind him and knew this would probably be in every newspaper in the country by tomorrow. But he really didn’t care. He could see his Dad standing, smirking in a way that suggested this turn of events wasn’t surprising to him at all. His Grandmother was wearing a similar knowing look. Stiles smiled back at her as she waltzed past, his head tentatively resting on Derek’s shoulder, feeling his heart beating against his. He could see Isaac pulling Scott onto the dance floor, Scott pretending to look bashful but obviously enjoying every minute of it. 

“So…what happens now?” 

Stiles lifted his head up to look at Derek and got slightly lost for a moment in those green eyes, perfectly framed with sooty lashes before remembering he’d been asked a question.

“Now?”

“Now that you’ve accepted your title, outed yourself to the entire world…you know, after those tiny things. What happens after that? Do you have to go and live in Genovia now? What happens with us?”

Stiles blushed, “I was thinking maybe we could just live happily ever after?” 

Derek chuckled, “And what exactly does that entail?”

“Well, I won’t take the throne until my Grandmother steps down. I’ll have to keep doing prince lessons, I guess, although I’m not sure how that’s going to work if my Grandmother is moving back to Genovia but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I guess you’re going to college as you’re graduating in a month and I’m staying in school due to the fact that we go to a genius school which we attend for an extra year. I don’t want to assume anything but you’re staying in the same state to go to college so I guess we’ll do the long distance thing? Well, technically the longer distance thing which will suck because I won’t see you everyday but-”

“Stiles?”

“Yeah?”

“Just…stop for a minute.”

“Why?”

“So I can do this,” Derek tilted his head up and kissed Stiles, probably with more tongue than was appropriate for a ball. But Stiles really didn’t care about that at the moment. This was definitely a happily ever after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all of you who read this to the end, despite the ridiculous gap in the middle, and for those who left kudos and comments - thank you very very much. I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, you can check out my other Sterek fics :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading my first chapter - I hope you enjoyed it! I'll be updating every week (ish) so please leave kudos and comments!


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